Most of these party stalwarts would have been better off forgoing a run in the first place. After all, it’s a decision that’s worked out well for one prominent Republican leader: Paul D. Ryan.

It gets lost now after all the debates, early balloting and Trump-authored tweets that the speaker of the House once seriously considered a run for president. In January of last year, he quietly announced that he would not seek the Republican nomination.

Reid bemoans the lack of diversity in early contests. (Photo By Bill Clark/Roll Call)

A day after the Iowa caucuses and a week from the New Hampshire primary, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid is back blasting the lack of diversity in the states that come before his home of Nevada in the presidential nominating process.

Asked about the outcome in Iowa, where Sen. Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., finishing very narrowly behind former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Reid highlighted his role in changing the process to put more focus on the subsequent contests in states with more diverse Democratic electorates. His efforts helped move Nevada's Democratic caucuses earlier in the electoral calendar.

Former Democratic Congressman Davis speaks at the 2012 Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. (Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call File Photo)

Should a desperation move to crowbar his way into local politics fail next week, former Rep. Artur Davis may attempt to drag Democrat leaders before the state Supreme Court.

“If I’m successful, we’ll be taking our case to voters in District 1,” Davis told the Montgomery Advertiser . “If I’m not successful, there’s another court down the street I’d be willing to talk to, the Alabama Supreme Court. If I’m unsuccessful in the judicial process, then I’m unsuccessful.”

Democrats might disagree, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks the GOP electoral wave in his home state Tuesday was about President Barack Obama.

The Kentucky Republican told CQ Roll Call that he viewed the election returns Tuesday in his home commonwealth as a strike against the Obama administration's agenda — particularly the Affordable Care Act.